The weight is moving up at Golden Age Iron in Vancouver, Washington. At the young age of 23, powerlifter Chris Bridgeford hit possibly his best deadlift double to date with a strong 400kg (881 lb) pull.
In the video he shared yesterday on his Instagram page Bridgeford writes, “I called it at the beginning of this training cycle and l made it happen. 400 kg (881 lbs) for a double… very happy with how much my grip has improved. Need to keep getting better if l have a chance at the Open.”
Granted, how can you not put up strong numbers when your all-time deadlift world record holding girlfriend Gina Aversa is watching in the background? Now the question remains, when will Bridgeford surpass the 900 lb mark in competition, as he’s done it a few times now in training.
Bridgeford’s next meet is set to be The Kern US Open, which is taking place May 11-12th in San Diego, California. When we asked him about his meet aspirations he told us, “I’d like to total over 2,200 lbs at the Open in the 242 lb weight class. That was my goal last year at Boss of Bosses IV, but I fell short by about 60 lbs.”
At the Boss of Bosses IV meet that Bridgeford referenced above he finished with a 2,143 lb total, which is the fifth highest total of all time in the 242 lb weight class. His final lifts were a 380kg squat, 215kg bench, and a 377.5kg deadlift.
After the Boss of Bosses IV meet, Bridgeford competed in the SPF Reebok Record Breakers, but had a nagging injury and wasn’t able to put up the total he desired.
With his recent slue of strong deadlift videos, we were curious about what Bridgeford’s deadlift goal is for the US Open. He told us, “I have my heart set on pulling over 900 lbs at the Open. I’ve done it a few times in the gym now, so it’s been a goal of mine for awhile, and I just haven’t been able to put it together on meet day.”
He continues by saying, “I’ve been working with Brandon Senn at Kabuki Strength Lab, and he’s done a lot for my training in a short amount of time.”
Will Bridgeford be the next 242 lb powerlifter to eclipse the 900 lb deadlift milestone in competition? Time will tell, but we’re optimistic judging from his recent training videos.
Related: Romanian Deadlift Overview
Feature image screenshot from bridgeford242 Instagram page.